2 July 201

The Writers in Prison Committee (WiPC) of International PEN welcomes the release of leading journalist and human rights activist Emadeddin Baghi on 23 June 2010. However, PEN remains deeply concerned that he still faces charges and is due to stand trial in early July. International PEN reminds the Iranian authorities of their obligations to Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and continues to call for the charges against Emadeddin Baghi to be dropped.  

According to PEN’s information, Emadeddin Baghi, prominent Iranian journalist and human rights activist, was arrested on 28 December 2009, and spend most of his time in detention in solitary confinement. He was released from the notorious Evin prison on 23 June 2010, on bail of 200 million Tomans (approx. US$ 200,000).  Baghi was arrested following the broadcast by the BBC Persian Service of a two-year old interview Baghi had conducted with the late Ayatollah Hossein-Ali Montazeri, an influential cleric who died in December 2009. The government has sought to clamp down on publicity about Montazeri, who had criticized the conduct of the June presidential election.

Emadeddin Baghi reportedly faces additional charges of undertaking ‘propaganda against the state’ and ‘colluding to commit acts against national security’. He is due to be tried on 7 July 2010.

Background

Emadeddin Baghi has a long history of political imprisonment and persecution. He was first imprisoned on 29 May 2000 and sentenced to a three-year prison term on charges of ‘endangering national security’ for his writings about the serial murder of dissident intellectuals in Iran in the late 1990s. He served two years of that sentence, and one year was suspended. He was also handed down a one-year suspended term in 2003 for “endangering national security” and “printing lies” in his book, The Tragedy of Democracy in Iran. His newspaper Joumhouriat was shut down in 2003. In October 2007 he was sentenced to one year in prison for "acting against national security’, ‘propaganda against the Islamic Republic’ and ‘divulging state secret information’ for his activities as president of the Society for the Defence of Prisoners’ Rights, an organisation that he founded in 2003. In December 2007 he suffered a heart attack and three seizures in prison, and remained in poor health without adequate medical care until his release in October 2008. International PEN advocated for his release during his previous detentions.

Baghi is the founder of the Association for the Defence of Prisoner’s Rights, which had been compiling information on torture and other abuses of detainees. In the late 1990’s he exposed the serial murders of Iranian intellectuals. His books Right to Life and Right to Life II argue for the abolition of the death penalty and have been banned by the authorities. He is author of twenty books, six of which have been banned in Iran, and winner of the Martin Annals Award in 2009 and British Press Awards for International Journalist of the Year 2008.

Further information

WiPC previous alert: http://www.internationalpen.org.uk/index.cfm?objectid=71C6F443-3048-676E-269158520976EA6D

Amnesty International: http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/award-winning-iranian-journalist-released-bail-2010-06-23

Committee to Protect Journalist’ report: Iran press crackdown continues a year after disputed vote http://cpj.org/2010/06/iran-press-crackdown-continues-a-year-after-disput.php  
 

PLEASE SEND APPEALS

§         Welcoming the release on bail of leading Iranian journalist, writer and human rights activist Emadeddin Baghi;

§         Calling for the charges against  Emadeddin Baghi to be dropped and remanding the Iranian authorities of their obligations to uphold freedom of expression;

·         Calling for the immediate and unconditional release of all those currently detained in Iran in violation of Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Iran is a state party.

APPEALS TO:

Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic
His Excellency Ayatollah Sayed ‘Ali Khamenei,
The Office of the Supreme Leader
Islamic Republic Street – End of Shahid Keshvar Doust Street, Tehran,
Islamic Republic of Iran
 

Head of the Judiciary
Ayatollah Sadeqh Larijani
Howzeh Riyasat-e Qoveh Qazaiyeh (Office of the Head of the Judiciary)
Pasteur St., Vali Asr Ave., south of Serah-e Jomhouri
Tehran 1316814737
Islamic Republic of Iran

COPIES TO:

President: His Excellency Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
The Presidency,
Palestine Avenue,
Azerbaijan Intersection,
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran

Fax: Via Foreign Ministry: +98 21 6 674 790
(mark: "Please forward to H.E. President Ahmadinejad")

If possible please send a copy of your appeal to the diplomatic representative for Iran in your country.

***Please check with this office if sending appeals after 30 July 2010***

For further information please contact Cathy McCann at International PEN Writers in Prison Committee, Brownlow House, 50/51 High Holborn, London WC1V 6ER, Tel.+ 44 (0) 20 7405 0338, Fax: +44 (0) 20 7405 0339, email: cathy.mccann@internationalpen.org.uk

Letter template:

 Your Excellency

I am a freelance editor who lives in New Zealand.  I am writing to you to say how pleased I am to hear the welcome news of the release on bail of leading Iranian journalist, writer and human rights activist Emadeddin Baghi.  Following on from this, I call for the charges against Emadeddin Baghi to be dropped, and I wish to remind the Iranian authorities of their obligations to uphold freedom of expression.

I am also calling for the immediate and unconditional release of all those currently detained in Iran in violation of Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Iran is a state party.

Yours sincerely